


It's two sugars, right?

by Ilerre



Series: Ways to Say I Love You [24]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Blushing Daryl, Cute, Flirty Merle, M/M, Merle and Daryl aren't brothers, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-27 22:58:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6303481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilerre/pseuds/Ilerre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's two sugars, right?</p>
<p>(The dreadful coffee shop AU I promised myself I'd never write…)</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's two sugars, right?

0

Daryl didn't care about the riling he got from his colleges about his crush on the burly biker guy that came every morning for his coffee before work.

Maggie always made sure Daryl was the one at the counter at 7:30am sharp so he could take care of the order, and Rick liked to catcall from the kitchen just before the door opened, just to be sure Daryl was blushing like crazy when the man walked to the counter.

Today was Wednesday, it was 8:23am, and the man hadn't come.

Daryl was listlessly wiping the counter after the eight o'clock rush, and couldn't help but sigh and deflate every time the bell rang when the door was pushed open by someone who clearly wasn't his—

_His what?_

For all he knew, the man was already with someone. Worse than that, maybe the man wasn't even gay.

He angrily pushed his hair away from his face and glared at the counter, gritting his teeth.

He knew he could be stupid, especially when his heart was concerned. Rick always said he didn't know how to do things at a reasonable pace. His best friend liked to say he didn't know how to do things by halves. When he hated—he hated with a passion. When he loved—he loved, and he loved with all of his heart until he couldn’t give anymore and people generally sucked him dry.

Like his previous boyfriend. Aaron and he had been together a year before he'd woken up one morning to be told he was too much. His love was too smothering, his adoration was too overwhelming.  

Rick told him Aaron was an ass, because apparently, someone like Daryl, who could give everything and not hide any feelings, was a gift and something precious to be cherished.

Sometimes, Daryl thought Rick was just plain stupid. Sometimes, Daryl wanted to believe Rick.

It was discomfiting. The man Daryl had a crush on—and wasn't it funny that he didn't even know his name?—didn't seem really romantic, or the kind who liked any grand love declaration. He'd probably dump him after the first date if he knew how Daryl could be.

Shoulders slumping and wet rag held limply in his hand, Daryl walked around the counter to clean the glass windows showcasing the pastries. He turned swiftly to grab the product from the counter, but slammed face first into a hard chest and bounced once before losing his footing and falling on his ass on the wet floor.

"Ah fuck!" a voice exclaimed, "I'm sorry, 'ere, lemme help ya."

Daryl blindly grabbed the hand, too stunned to react in any other way and let himself be helped to stand, before realizing who was facing him.

The man.

His crush!

Blushing furiously, and fighting the need to bury his face in his hands, Daryl took a step back and gaped for a moment, before regaining his bearings. "I—I'm sorry!" he apologized quickly, "I didn't see ya, I was—was—uh, damn," he muttered angrily, frowning at his complete lack of coherence. Now the guy was going to think he was a total moron.

"Hey, nah, 't's okay," he chuckled, stretching his hand toward Daryl. "I'm Merle," he said with a grin, "I see ya every mornin' but we never had time to chat."

Freezing for a very short instant and fearing to stay stuck, Daryl was glad when he managed to move and put his hand in the other man's—Merle's!—hand to shake. "I'm—Daryl. Nice to meet ya."

He stayed like that for a moment, dumbly holding Merle's hand before he realized what he was doing, and let it go with a violent blush. "Oh, uh, do ya wanna—uh, coffee?"

_Coffee…in a coffee shop, nice doing, Daryl. Very smooth, you stupid dump redneck idiot!_

Merle smiled gently and nodded. "Yes, please."

Sighing at not being called on his behavior, Daryl walked around the counter and quickly prepared the man's habitual drink. He put the cardboard cup on the counter and grinned shyly. "It's two sugars, right?"

Merle gave him a big hearty smile and nodded. "Yup." He took the cup, fingers gently grazing Daryl's and took a big gulp. "Ah man, _ya_ make the best coffee 'round here."

Daryl blushed at the compliment and looked down, running his hands down his black apron to do something with his hands. "Oh, uh, thanks."

Merle grinned again and threw an apologetic glance at the clock on the wall behind Daryl. "Hey, look, I'm sorry. I'm gonna run late for work, but—" he leaned over the counter and smiled gently, brushing a finger down Daryl's cheek. "How 'bout I meet ya in front after your shift 'round five, uh?"

Daryl was too stunned to say anything, and could only nod and watch in bafflement as the man walked backwards to the door, his gaze never leaving Daryl's. "Aw'right, Daryl! See ya at five!"

It didn't occur till fifteen minutes later that Daryl had never told Merle when his shift ended.

But catching Maggie and Rick's conspiratorial grins, he could take a guess about who did it.

He couldn't wait for his shift to end.

0

**Author's Note:**

> This work is unbetaed. Please feel free to point any typos you saw or missing words, or any sentences that just don't make any sense :)
> 
> **[SUBMIT A PROMPT HERE](http://hillbells.tumblr.com/submit) ******


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